Physical Therapist (PT) – Acute Care

About this role

Discover Vanderbilt University Medical Center :  Located in Nashville, Tennessee, and operating at a global crossroads of teaching, discovery, and patient care, VUMC is a community of individuals who come to work each day with the simple aim of changing the world. It is a place where your expertise will be valued, your knowledge expanded, and your abilities challenged. Vanderbilt Health is committed to an environment where everyone has the chance to thrive and where your uniqueness is sought and celebrated. It is a place where employees know they are part of something that is bigger than themselves, take exceptional pride in their work and never settle for what was good enough yesterday. Vanderbilt’s mission is to advance health and wellness through preeminent programs in patient care, education, and research.

Organization: VCH Physical Therapy Job Summary: Under medical supervision, the Physical Therapist is responsible for the delivery of services that help restore function, improve mobility, relieve pain, and prevent or limit permanent physical disabilities of patients suffering from injuries or disease. . Job Title: Physical Therapist (PT) – Acute Care & Inpatient Rehab Organization: Vanderbilt Clarksville Hospital Location: Clarksville, TN Schedule: Full Time, 40 hours per week Weekend Coverage: One weekend day (Saturday or Sunday) per month

Job Summary Physical Therapists at Vanderbilt Clarksville Hospital provide inpatient rehabilitation services within an acute care hospital setting. This role supports adult inpatients across multiple units, contributing to interdisciplinary care focused on recovery, safety, and discharge planning.

Position Overview Physical Therapists support adult patients across Inpatient Rehabilitation, Medical-Surgical units, Telemetry, Progressive Care, and the Intensive Care Unit, including post-operative orthopedic and general surgical populations. The role emphasizes early mobility, strength, balance, gait training, and functional recovery while collaborating with the interdisciplinary care team to support safe and timely discharge planning.

Key Responsibilities • Evaluate and treat patients according to physician orders and established plans of care

• Collaborate with physicians, nursing, therapy colleagues, and care management teams

• Document evaluations, progress notes, and discharge recommendations per hospital standards

• Support safe discharge planning and transitions of care

Qualifications • Graduate of an accredited Physical Therapy program

• Current Tennessee licensure or eligibility

• Prior acute care or hospital-based experience preferred

About Vanderbilt Health Vanderbilt Health is a leader in patient- and family-centered care, combining excellence in clinical care, research, and education. Through its regional hospitals, Vanderbilt Health delivers high-quality care close to home while maintaining strong connections to academic medicine.

Apply Today Join Vanderbilt Clarksville Hospital and be part of a collaborative, patient-focused care team.

Vanderbilt Health. Personalized care. Close to home.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES • Provides and documents assessment of strength, range of motion, balance and coordination, posture, muscle performance, and motor function

• Provides and documents various treatments including exercise, electrical stimulation, hot packs or cold compresses, ultrasound to relieve pain or reduce swelling.

• Provides and documents patient education regarding treatment plan, activity, exercises, assistive and/or adaptive devices such as crutches, walkers, prostheses, and wheelchairs

• Assess wounds, implementing the appropriate skin care protocol

• Performs duties and responsibilities with indirect supervision and must frequently make independent decisions

• Participates in discharge plan rounds as needed

TECHNICAL CAPABILITIES • Rehab Therapist Patient Documentation (Novice): Demonstrates proficiency in documentation practices. Documents in the appropriate templates and utilizes only approved abbreviations within patient documentation. Meets institutional standards for quality and timeliness of documentation.

• Treatment Planning & Goal Setting (Novice): Demonstrates sufficient proficiency in developing a plan of care that incorporates treatment interventions focused on meeting objective goals. Develops and documents patient focused short and long term goals that are functional and measurable. Identifies the need for and referral to other services, as needed.

• Rehabilitation Therapist Patient Evaluation (Novice): Demonstrates proficiency in evaluating patients with physical deficits including impairments, developmental disabilities, functional limitations, disabilities, or changes in physical function by obtaining information pertinent to the assessment and administering and scoring standardized tests and objective measures of deficit areas. Selects appropriate measures and performs a functional assessment to document patient's status requiring skilled therapy. Interprets the results of the assessment and their significance to the patient, family, referring physician and other members of the health care team.

• Treatment Implementation (Novice): Demonstrates proficiency in providing treatment consistent with physician prescription and established plan of care. Able to modify treatment plan as needed to demonstrate provision of skilled therapy services including progression of treatment throughout course of care, and revision of treatment interventions of goals not met. May supervise and direct certified athletic trainers (PT only), physical therapist / occupational therapist assistants, technicians and volunteers and students. Selects and follows correct protocol for care and utilize evidence based treatments. Has completed at least one year of clinical experience in treatment implementation.

• Physical/Occupational Therapist Patient Education (Novice): Demonstrates proficiency in communicating functional im

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